Jacob and Cecile: Imprinted
by Verticalness
Summary: Cecile Andres is a werewolf, who has wandered down from British Columbia, where she was kicked out of her then pack. She is found by the Quileute wolves, and is soon in deeper then she may have liked. Oneshot? Maybe second chapter in future. MAYBE.


I stumbled through the dark, dripping forest

I stumbled through the dark, dripping forest. My injured side and chest were aching, and my head pounding. The thick, unmistakable sweet stink of bloodsuckers was everywhere; under it, though, was the just as unmistakable musk of my kind. It made me yearn for home, but was also what kept me moving forward.

I could feel my rib bones attempting, slowly, slowly, to move back to their proper positions. But it wasn't working properly. I could feel that too.

I continued through the deep green forest until I reached a place where the smell of my kind overrode the nauseating stink of leeches. A streak of pink dawn had appeared along the horizon. I gazed at it for a moment, longing for food, for a bed. For family. Then I sunk down against a thick tree trunk and slept.

The first thing I realized when I woke was how uncomfortable I was. I was hot and damp with sweat, the summer sun beating down on me through the trees. The second thing I noticed was that I was not alone.

And then I was realized when I was smelling—_that_ smell, the smell of my kind, family! The smell of comfort that I was so used to, but hadn't smelled for weeks. Excitement surged through me, but I forced my eyes to stay closed. I couldn't be sure, I reminded myself; I'd learned well enough that _anything_ could be a trap.

I heard the person step closer, and tensed. He—a stronger scent told me the person was male—leaned down and pressed two fingers to my neck, feeling my pulse. I swallowed down a growl. When the fingers were taken away, I risked opening one eye a crack.

The person was very tall, like all our kind, and slim, with short, closely cut hair and the usual dark skin. He wasn't wearing a shirt, with plain, though rather dirty blue jeans on his lower half. He was looking down at me with a mixture of curiousity and caution on his face. Though I quickly snapped my eye shut, he still caught it.

"Are you awake?"

I breathed in deeply, wincing when pain shot through my chest, and hoping this didn't end badly.

"Yeah," I breathed, opening my eyes and trying to sit up. I gasped and fell back, pain engulfing me again. The boy didn't move, still watching me with fascinated caution.

"You're…one of our kind?" he asked, hesitant.

I bit my lip. Well, I didn't have anything holding me back from killing him if he tried anything. Since he hadn't killed me already, I thought he might have more reserve.

"Yes," I finally answered.

"Where are you from?" Businesslike. "I mean…we kind of thought we were the only ones. We weren't sure there were others."

"British Columbia." I paused, trying to speak through the pain. "There are more—it seems that several native clans in North America have trickles of our kind in them. Coast Salish is one of them."

He nodded. "What's your name?"

My eyes narrowed. "What does it matter?" I snapped. "I'm hurt, alright? So if you're gonna help me, you better do it soon."

He thought for a second, then nodded again.

"I'll go get help. Try to hang in there." He turned to leave.

"Wait!"

He turned, one eyebrow raised.

"What's yours?" I panted. "Name, I mean."

A faint smile appeared on his lips. "Embry. Embry Call."

And he disappeared into the forest.

A pair of wide, bottomless dark eyes were looking down at me anxiously from a handsome face. He looked much like the boy who had found me, Embry, except his hair was thick and shaggy, coming down to his shoulders.

My mind was sluggish from not eating, but I did vaguely remember being taken here. Embry had returned with their leader, who had been introduced to me as Sam Uley. He had asked me a few questions, and gained my liking when he did not push me when I didn't answer where my pack was. He had picked me up in strong arms and jogged knowingly through the forest; I remembered drifting off to the beat of his feet.

I did not remember this boy, though I knew he was not a threat as he had the same smell as all of this pack. When he saw I was awake his eyes widened even more, and he promptly took a step back from the bed I was lying on. Almost as if he had known I'd been uncomfortable with his closeness.

He looked down, and up again, and then swallowed. Nervous. He looked down again, then spoke.

"Hey. I'm…Jacob."

"Hey," I rasped back. I cleared my throat. "You have any liquids?"

He smiled slightly. "Yeah. I'll be back in a sec." He left the room, bending his head to get through the doorway.

I looked around the room while he got my drink. It was messy and small, but comfy looking. And the smell…in addition to the homey smell of the wolf, this Jacob boy had quite a nice musk of his own.

He was back promptly, setting the glass of water on the night table and watching me closely, with the same sort of awed expression on his face. I sat up carefully, minding my injured side, but still managing to send a shot of agony up my torso. The boy was at my side in an instant, his hand firmly on my shoulder, keeping me down. A snarl escaped my lips; he backed off immediately. A slightly pained expression flitted across his face, but was instantly composed. Only his voice held even a hint of confusion.

"Can you drink it yourself, _without _hurting yourself?"  
I glared at him.  
He slowly stepped forward, picked up the glass, and cautiously, gently brought it to my lips. Still glaring, I sipped obediently. As soon as I had, Jacob set the glass down and stepped back, still probing me with his eyes. They met mine for the briefest moment, then turned to somewhere between my nose and lips; it was a wolf thing, not to look another in the eye for too long.  
"So you're hurt, obviously," he began, speaking quickly. "Sam said you spent long periods of time in your wolf form, but changed back and forth a couple of times, right? So we don't know how your bones have set and where they are now. And we probably should find that out, seeing as you look pretty messed up at the moment. Judging that your temperature isn't any different than ours, you're not gonna be able to go to a normal doctor. We have...a connection, with a bloodsucker coven that doesn't live too far from here."  
"So that was the smell," I mused, raising an eyebrow.  
One side of Jacob's mouth turned up in a smile. He nodded. "They have a doctor among them, the oldest one. He's helped us before, and we thought-"  
"Wait, _what_?" My nostrils flared. I had to swallow back the hot taste in my mouth, and squirm against the flood of heat down my back. The boy watched me steadily and silently, waiting till I had calmed.  
"_What_ were you implying?" I hissed, still breathing heavily.  
"The leader of the coven, Carlisle Cullen, is a doctor. He's helped me before, and is...mostly trustworthy, we think."  
"You think?"  
"We're sure."  
I gazed at him solidly for a moment.  
"How do I know you're not just trying to get rid of me?"  
His eyes tightened.  
"We wouldn't do that. I wouldn't do that."  
I snorted.  
"We'll ask the doctor if he'll come." I hissed again. "We're not sure of anything, though, so Emily, Sam's wife, is gonna be by later to help patch you up for now. Is there anything else you need?"  
"Why do you even care?"  
He sighed. "Not my choice."  
My eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What do you mean?"  
Jacob looked away, uneasy.  
"You don't need anything?" he repeated.  
"Whatever."

Emily Uley came by later that night. She knocked lightly and stuck her head into the room.  
"Hello?"  
My eyes drifted from the ceiling to an exquisitely pretty face, copper skinned and framed by glossy, thick black hair. She walked in, smiling a warm smile, and faced me full on for the first time.

My jaw fell open as my eyes raked across the angry red lines pulling down her left? eye and the side of her mouth.

"Your Sam doesn't have as much control as he pretends, then," I breathed.

Emily scowled with both sides of her full mouth.

"Don't you _dare_ say _anything_ about Sam," she growled. "I wouldn't put it past any of the rest of them to drive you out. Well…." She smiled grimly. "Except for Jacob, I suppose."

"What?" I sneered, as she knelt beside the bed and started pulling back the covers. "He thinks I'm hot, does he?"

Emily shook her head and chuckled, pulling my shirt up to expose my stomach and injured ribs. Her warm hand—but noticeably not warm enough to be wolfish—pressed lightly on each rib, making me wince.

'Well?" I demanded after a moment. "Why does the Jacob kid give a damn?"

"You'll think of it eventually," she murmured. "If we can't get Dr. Cullen to come over, I guess I'll have to try to find the proper bandages to bind you up with…."

She made me turn so she could see my back, and clean up the scratches and scrapes. I was hissing with pain as she scrubbed at a particularly dirty one, when I heard footsteps, and a sigh.

Emily didn't look up. "Hello, Jacob."

He stepped into the room and leaned against the wall. His dark eyes found mine.

"You okay?" he asked, tilting his head to the side. Maybe it was 'cause I was embarrassed, since I was showing some skin; maybe it was because I was feeling vulnerable, with my scrapes and bruises out for anyone to see. But that was the very first moment I saw the beauty in Jacob Black. Even with his shiny black hair, and sensitive, sweet eyes, it was hard to resist admitting that it wasn't just his body that was beautiful. He was so kind, seemed to care so much….

And then I realized why.

"You…." I gasped, then cringed, then groaned. Everything hurt.

"Someone should get her some painkillers," he said anxiously.

Emily turned her head and raised her eyebrows. "Make yourself useful?"

"I'm not leaving."

"You…." I was still gasping, but now it was less from astonishment and more from laughter. "You imprinted," I giggled, "didn't you?"

Jacob took a deep breath and rolled his eyes.

"You're going to hurt yourself."

"You did," I gasped between giggles, painful ones, admittedly. "My god…."

Emily was shaking her head, smiling grimly once again. "Jacob, I think the best thing you can do is get some Tylenol or something. Billy'll be home from the Clearwaters' soon with food; you should get them before he gets back."

Jacob threw my slowly calming figure a last agitated look before setting his jaw and nodding.

"Yeah. I'll be back soon."

"Bye Jakey darling!" I called after him, still chuckling.

"You ever know someone who imprinted?" Emily asked as she put away her supplies.

"A few," I answered.

"Then you'll know that if it wasn't for that, he wouldn't care for you at all," she sighed. She threw me a last annoyed look and left.

I lay there alone for awhile, slipping in and out of sleep. At one point Billy—Jacob's crippled but kind father—popped in to say hello, and Jacob came in with soup and Tylenol soon after. He quietly watched me gulp down the pills, then struggle to sit up against the pillows so I could eat.

"No, I do not want you to feed me," I growled, trying to shimmy up the pillows without causing myself severe pain.

He chuckled. "You sure about that?"

With a last agonized gasp I was able to sit up enough to be able to eat without thoroughly soaking myself with soup. Jacob watched, posture rigid.

"Would you _please_ stop hurting yourself?" he pleaded, looking at me with perfect puppy dog eyes.

I hung my head, frustrated, and sighed.

"It's hard not to."

"Just wait for the Tylenol to work."

I sighed again.

He stepped forward, watching for the smallest reaction, and crouched down beside the bed (his bed, actually). Carefully, cautiously, eyes always locked on mine, he brushed the back of his hot fingers against my lips. For some reason I couldn't then explain my heart raced at his soft touch.

"You know…." He looked down, and a pretty smile softened his handsome features. "No matter how unpleasant you are to me, I'm still going to have imprinted on you. I'm still going to be here…."

When I didn't say anything, he looked up again.

"And, by the way, you have beautiful eyes."

And that was the first time Jacob Black and Cecile Andres laughed together.


End file.
